In our special issue "Professional" ("Red Star" No. 228), we talked about the fact that the regular Russian army not only began its formation in Peter's times on a contract basis, but also later, in all subsequent reigns - from Catherine I to Nicholas II - Partially consisted of “lower ranks” who voluntarily entered the service, that is, soldiers and non-commissioned officers. The system of manning the armed forces was changing: there was a recruitment, there was an all-class conscription, but the "contract soldiers", in modern terms, remained in the army anyway ... Today we will continue our story on the same topic and will try to comprehend what benefits these same "Contract soldiers" are not of noble rank and for which they themselves voluntarily served in its ranks.

About the soldiers that officers were old enough to be
So-called "Recruitment" had existed since 1699 (by the way, the word "recruit" itself was introduced only in 1705) and before, in accordance with the manifesto of Alexander II, Russia switched to "all-class military service" in 1874.
It is known that the recruits were taken from the age of 20, and not from the age of 18, as we called in the twentieth century, which, you see, makes a certain difference. Then the same age - 20 years old - remained even during the transition to conscription service ... It would also not be superfluous to say that people under the age of 35 were recruited, which means that with a twenty-five-year service life a soldier could, as it was then , "Pull the strap" up to a very respectable age - up to seventy. However, in the "era of the Napoleonic wars" even 40-year-olds were taken ... As a result, the army, more precisely, its soldiers, was aging inexorably and inevitably.
But the officer corps was not only young, but rather, simply young. Let's take Dmitry Tselorungo's book "Officers of the Russian Army - Participants of the Borodino Battle" and open a table showing the age level of these officers. It analyzes data on 2,074 people, and from this figure, calculations are made that are fully consistent with the "arithmetic mean" for the entire Russian army in 1812.
The main age of officers who fought at Borodino ranged from 21 to 25 years old - 782 people, or 37.7 percent. 421 people, or 20.3 percent of all officers, were between the ages of 26 and 30. In general, officers from 21 to 30 years old accounted for almost 60 percent of the total. In addition, it should be added that 276 people - 13.3 percent - were aged 19-20; 88 people - that's 4.2 percent - 17-18 years old; 18 people - 0.9 percent - 15-16 years old, and another 0.05 percent was the only young officer 14 years old. By the way, there was also only one officer at the age of 55 at Borodino ... In general, there were almost 80 percent of commanders in the army between the ages of 14 and 30, and those who were over 30 were just over twenty. They were led - let us recall the well-known verse lines - "young generals of the past": Count Miloradovich, who commanded the troops of the right flank at Borodino, was 40, brigadier commander Tuchkov 4th - 35, chief of artillery of the 1st Army Count Kutaisov - 28 ...
Imagine a quite ordinary picture: a 17-year-old warrant officer, a young man at the age of our modern senior Suvorov soldier, comes out in front of the formation of his platoon. In front of him are men of 40-50 years old. The officer greets them with an exclamation of "Great, guys!", And the gray-haired "guys" shout in unison in response, "Good luck, your honor!" “Come on, come here! - calls a warrant officer out of action some 60-year-old grandfather. - Explain to me, brother ... "
All this was as it should be: both the form of greeting - "guys", and the liberal-condescending address to the soldier "brother", and the conversation with the lower rank, the representative of the "vile class", exclusively "on you". The latter, however, has come down to our times - some bosses see in any of their subordinates a "lower rank" ...
By the way, the memory of those morals has been preserved both in the old soldiers' songs - "Soldiers, brave children!", And in literature - "Guys, isn't Moscow behind us?"
Of course, much can be explained by the peculiarities of serfdom, that distant time when the soldier saw in the officer, first of all, a representative of the upper class, to whom he was always obliged to obey without question. But still, was it so easy for yesterday's graduates of cadet corps, recent cadets, who have learned the basics of practical military science here in the regiment under the leadership of "uncles" - experienced soldiers, to command the elderly, sometimes "broken" soldiers in more than one campaign?
By the way, although the time is somewhat different - already the very end of the 19th century - but a very accurate description of a similar situation, taken from the book of Count Alexei Alekseevich Ignatiev "Fifty Years in the ranks":
“I come to class ...
- Command, - I say to the non-commissioned officer.
He clearly pronounces the command, according to which my students quickly scatter around the hall in a checkerboard pattern.
- Protect your right cheek, if you cut it to the left, cut it down to the right!
The whistle of checkers in the air, and again - complete silence.
What should I teach here? God would have let him remember all this for the review, where he would have to command.
“It’s not very clean,” the sergeant-master tells me intelligibly, “they’re doing very badly there in the third platoon.
I am silent, because the soldiers do everything better than myself. "
Meanwhile, Count Ignatiev was not one of the "regimental cadets", but was educated in the Corps of Pages, one of the best military educational institutions in Russia ...
It is clear that between the two categories of servicemen - officers and soldiers - there had to be some kind of, let's say, connecting link. You can also guess that such should be sergeants - non-commissioned officers at that time.
Yes, in theory it is. But we have the sad experience of the Soviet Army, where sergeants were often called "privates with stripes" and all the time complained that officers had to replace them ... Moreover, if representatives of a socially united society served in the Soviet Army, then in the Russian Army as already mentioned, the officers represented one class, the soldiers another. And although today the "class approach" is not in vogue, however, the right word, in vain we forget about "class contradictions" and, by the way, about "class hatred". It is clear that in the depths of his soul the peasant did not particularly favor the landowner-nobleman - and, I think, even at a time when one of them was wearing epaulettes, and the other was wearing epaulettes. The exception, of course, is 1812, when the fate of the Fatherland was being decided. It is known that this time became an era of unprecedented unity of all strata of Russian society, and those who found themselves in the theater of operations - soldiers, officers and generals - then equally divided the march loads, stale crackers and enemy bullets ... But, fortunately, either Unfortunately, this has not happened very often in our history.
And in peacetime, as well as during some local military campaigns, there was no trace of such closeness in the army. So, is it worth clarifying that not every non-commissioned officer sought to curry favor with the officers, in one sense or another, "betray" his comrades. In the name of what? There was, of course, a material interest: if during the reign of Emperor Paul I in the Life Guards Hussar regiment, a combat hussar received 22 rubles a year, then a non-commissioned officer - 60, almost three times more. But in our life human relationships are not always determined by money. Therefore, a normal, let's say, non-commissioned officer more often found himself on the side of the soldier, trying in every possible way to cover up his sins and protect him from the command ... There was, of course, in a different way, as evidenced by Count Ignatiev: “Latvians, the most serviceable soldiers , - bad riders, but people with strong will, turned into fierce enemies of the soldiers, as soon as they received non-commissioned officers' braids. "
However, the role of that very connecting link, and maybe even a certain "layer" was performed, of course, not by them, but, again, by "contract soldiers" - that is, the lower ranks who served under the contract ...
"Where should the soldier go now?"
Before 1793 Russian soldier served for life. Then - twenty-five years. It is known that Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, at the end of his turbulent and contradictory quarter-century reign, wearily complained to those close to him: "The soldier, even after twenty-five years of service, they are released into retirement ..." XIX century.
And here is what Colonel Pavel Ivanovich Pestel, the head of the secret Southern society, wrote: “The term for service, determined at 25 years, is so long in every measure that few soldiers pass and endure it, and therefore from infancy they get used to regard military service as a cruel misfortune and almost as a decisive death sentence ".
About the "death sentence" is said fairly fairly. Without even touching on participation in hostilities, let us clarify that, firstly, the life expectancy in Russia of the century before last was nevertheless shorter than it is now, and, as we said, they could be recruited even at a fair age. Secondly, the then army service had its own specifics. "Forget nine, learn the tenth!" - used to say the Grand Duke and Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich, a veteran of the Italian and Swiss campaigns. He, who on April 19, 1799 personally led a company to attack near Basignano, distinguished himself at Tidon, Trebbia and Novi, showed considerable courage in the Alpine mountains, for which he was awarded by his father Emperor Paul I the diamond insignia of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, was later "glorified" by such "pearls" as "war spoils the army" and "these people can do nothing but fight!"

« Recruit - a recruit, a newcomer to military service, who joined the soldiers, privates, by service or hired. "
(Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language.)

Although this is not surprising: after all, in the army, especially in the regiments of the guard, the imperial family first of all saw the support and protection of the throne from all kinds of enemies, and Russian history quite convincingly proved that the external danger for our sovereigns was much less dangerous than the internal one. Say what you like, but not one of them was killed by the invaders ... That is why they drilled the soldiers for years so that they would then at any moment, without hesitation, be ready to fulfill the highest will.
It is clear that in a quarter of a century almost any man could be made a good soldier. Moreover, in the army, and even more so in the guard, they took not just anyone, but in accordance with certain rules.
The recruit who came to the service was taught not only the basics of military art, but also the rules of behavior, one might even say, "noble manners." So, in the "Instructions of the Colonel's Cavalry Regiment" of 1766 it is said, "So that the villainous peasant habit, evasion, antics, scratching during conversation were completely exterminated from him"... The aforementioned Tsarevich Constantine demanded “So that people disdain to resemble peasants, ... so that each person could speak decently, sensibly and without shouting, would answer his boss, without being shy or impudent in front of him, would always have the appearance of a soldier with a decent posture, for knowing his business, he has nothing to fear ... "
Soon enough - under the influence of persuasion and everyday drills, as well as, if necessary, a fist and a rod - the recruit turned into a completely different person. And not only outwardly: in essence, he was already becoming different, because the soldier was emerging from serfdom, and long years of service completely separated him from his family, native places, and the usual way of life. That is why, after serving, the veteran was faced with the problem of where to go, how to live further? Letting go of him "outright", the state obliged the retired soldier to "shave his beard" and not engage in begging, and everything else somehow did not bother anyone ...
Retired soldiers had to settle in life on their own. Some of them went to an almshouse in old age, some were assigned to janitors or porters, some to city service - depending on their age, strength and health ...
By the way, It is worth noting that during the 19th century, the number of years of military service in recruitment gradually decreased, which means that younger, healthier people were retiring. So, in the second half of the reign of Alexander I, the term of service in the guard was reduced by three years - to 22 years. But the Blessed One, as Tsar Alexander Pavlovich was officially called, who always looked abroad and was very favorably disposed towards the Poles and Balts, already in 1816 reduced the term of soldier's service in the Kingdom of Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire, to 16 years ...
In Russia itself, this was achieved only at the end of the reign of his brother, Nicholas I. And then only in a few steps - after reductions in 1827, 1829, 1831 and other years - the service life by 1851 gradually reached 15 years.
By the way, there were also “targeted” reductions. IN The History of the Izmailovsky Life Guards Regiment, for example, states that after the suppression of the 1831 rebellion, “a decree was issued that again showed the monarch's love, care and gratitude to the pacifiers of Poland. This order reduced two years of service to the troops who were on the campaign ... Those wishing to remain in the service were ordered to issue an additional one and a half salary and, after serving a five-year term from the day of refusal to resign, turn all this salary into a pension, regardless of a certain state pension.

« Recruitment set - the old way of manning our army; began in 1699 and lasted until 1874 ... Recruits were supplied by tax-paying estates. At first, the sets were random, as needed. They have become annual since 1831, since the publication of the recruitment charter ”.
(Small encyclopedic dictionary. Brockhaus - Efron.)

And since in the conditions of the then Europe, which was pacified after the Napoleonic storms, there was no need for extraordinary recruiting, then mostly people of 20-25 years old were taken into the service. It turned out that by the age of 40, the soldier was already finishing his service - it seemed that it was still possible to start a new life, but only not everyone wanted that, not everyone liked it ... Here are some who decided to completely connect their lives with the army, with which they became akin over the years of service.
I would be glad to serve!
Let's take the book "Life Hussars" published last year by the Military Publishing House - the history of the Life Guards of His Imperial Majesty the Hussar Regiment - and select the following information from there:
“Until 1826 ... a private, who wanted to continue serving even after the end of the legalized term, received a salary increased by a six-month salary ...
On August 22, 1826, on the day of the holy coronation, the emperor wanted ... to dismiss the lower ranks who had served in the guards for 20 years (in the army for 23 years) ... As for the lower ranks who wished to remain in the service after the appointed time, then ... the increase in their salary was supposed to be increased not only by the semi-salary, but by the increase in the full salary, that is, by the privates who voluntarily remained in the service, the salary was increased two and a half times. But the privileges and advantages granted to them were not limited to this.
Those of them who, after refusing to retire, served another five years, the salary, increased by two and a half times, should be turned into a death pension, and they receive this pension regardless of the funds that are provided to them by the insignia of the Military Order and the Holy Anna ".
By the way, in the form of a badge of special distinction, such "contract" soldiers received a patch of gold galloon on their left sleeve, and every five years they were added one more patch.
“On July 1, 1829, it was ordered to the lower ranks who served in the non-commissioned officer rank for 10 years (in the army for 12 years) and, after passing the established exam, who refused to be promoted to officer, pay two-thirds of the Cornet salary in the service, and after serving them five years after turn this salary into a lifetime pension. "
Last time we talked about why not all non-commissioned officers wished to receive chief officer's epaulettes and, along with them, nobility ...
On March 26, 1843, the method of producing non-commissioned officers into chief officers was changed: all those who passed the exam were divided into two categories based on its results. “Non-commissioned officers who passed the first grade exam under the program received the right to be promoted to army regiments, and for refusing it they enjoyed the following advantages: they had a silver lanyard, a braid on their sleeve, were exempted from corporal punishment and demotion to rank and file without court ... and also to receive two-thirds of the Cornet salary in a pension for years of service immaculately five years from the date of appointment of this salary.
Non-commissioned officers of the second category, that is, those who passed the weakest exam, were not promoted to officers, but they were assigned, if they wish to remain in the service, one third of the Cornet salary, which, after five years of service, turned into a pension, and at the same time all other advantages were presented non-commissioned officers of the first category, with the exception of only a silver lanyard ... "
Unfortunately, a modern military man, wearing our completely impersonal, "non-national" uniform, has no idea how much certain details of the old uniform meant. For example, a silver lanyard on a saber or sword was an honorary accessory of an officer's rank - not without reason after the battle of Austerlitz on November 20, 1805, when the Novgorod Musketeer Regiment wavered, its officers were deprived of such distinction. So the lower rank, awarded a silver lanyard, was close to the officers, who now should have addressed him as "you."
All the listed benefits and features of the service of the then "contract soldiers" - and for them there were their own rules of accommodation and organization of life - not only radically separated them from ordinary soldiers and non-commissioned officers, but also to a certain extent changed the psychology of both themselves and their colleagues in relation to them. These people really had something to lose, and they categorically did not want to return to the original one. And not only because of what they directly received from the service, but also because of their attitude to it. People who did not like service did not remain in service beyond the term and did not refuse the officer's rank, which gave the right to resign ... But here there was really selfless love, based on the realization that a military man is superior to a civilian in all respects. So it was, so it was brought up!
It is clear that no one would have dared to call such a “bourbon” as the “coolest” representatives of the Unther class, as well as the officer class, as a “soldier with stripes”. This was no longer a soldier, although not an officer at all - he was a representative of that vital link that, in the words of one German military theorist, was the "backbone of the army."
However, it is known that the "contract soldiers" in the then army performed the duties not only of junior commanders, but also of various kinds of non-combatant specialists, which was also very valuable. An absolutely amazing episode was described by the former cavalry guard Count Ignatiev - I will cite his story in an abbreviated form ...
Death of the stoker
“On my one duty in the regiment, the following happened: in the evening ... a non-combatant officer on duty came running on a non-combatant command and with excitement in his voice reported that“ Alexander Ivanovich died. ”
Everyone, from private to regiment commander, called Alexander Ivanovich the old bearded sergeant-major who stood for hours next to the orderly at the gate, regularly saluting everyone who passed.
Where did Alexander Ivanovich come from? It turned out that more ... at the beginning
1870s ovens in the shelf were incredibly smoking, and no one could cope with them; Once the military district sent a specialist stove-maker from the Jewish cantonists of Oshansky to the regiment. With him, the stoves burned regularly, but without him they smoked. Everyone knew this for sure and, bypassing all the rules and laws, detained Oshansky in the regiment, giving him a uniform, ranks, medals and distinctions for extra-urgent "blameless service" ... His sons also served already in extra-urgent service, one as a trumpeter, the other as a clerk , the third - to the tailor ...
I could not imagine what happened in the next few hours. Splendid sleighs and carriages drove up to the regimental gates, from which came out elegant elegant ladies in furs and respectable gentlemen in top hats; they all made their way to the basement, where the body of Alexander Ivanovich lay. It turned out - and this could not have occurred to any of us - that Feldwebel Oshansky had been at the head of the St. Petersburg Jewish community for many years. The next morning, the body was carried out ... In addition to the entire Jewish Petersburg, not only all the available officers of the regiment, but also many old cavalry guards, headed by all the former commanders of the regiment, gathered here. "
The given snippet testifies to the fact that, firstly, in the old days even very respected people entered the "contract service" and, secondly, that in the regiments their "contract soldiers" were truly appreciated ...
However, we always say “in the regiments”, while in the 19th century in the Russian army there was at least one separate military unit fully equipped with “contract soldiers”.
Eighty years in the ranks
In No. 19 of the magazine "Bulletin of the military clergy" for 1892, I found an absolutely amazing biography of the Russian soldier-"contract" Vasily Nikolaevich Kochetkov, who was born in 1785.
In May 1811 - respectively 26 years of age - he was taken into military service and assigned to the illustrious Life Grenadier Regiment, soon ranked among the Guards and named the Life Guards Grenadier. In 1812, participating in rearguard battles, this regiment withdrew to Mozhaisk, and Kochetkov fought in its ranks at Borodino, and then at Leipzig, took Paris. Then there was the Turkish War of 1827-1828, where the Life Grenadiers seemed to justify their presence among the rebel troops on the Senate Square on December 14, 1825 ... After that, the Russian Guard pretty much battered the Polish rebels at Grochowskoe Pole and at the town of Ostrolenka, and in In 1831, the guards grenadiers took part in the capture of Warsaw.
By this time, Kochetkov had just served 20 years, having renounced his officer rank - therefore, he was a non-commissioned officer, but he did not leave "outright", but remained on extra-urgent. Moreover, the old grenadier decided to continue his service not on the St. Petersburg parquets, but in the Caucasian corps, where he spent five years in battles - and for ten months he was captured by robbers. Vasily Nikolayevich returned from the Caucasus in 1847, he was then already "sixty-something", it's time to think about resignation. And he really finished his service - however, only after in 1849 he visited Hungary, where the troops of Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich helped the Austrian allies to restore order ...
Probably, the traces of the grenadier Kochetkov would have been lost, but the events of the Crimean War again called the veteran into the ranks. The old man got to Sevastopol, joined the ranks of those fighting for the city and even took part in the sorties of the besieged garrison. When he returned to Petersburg, Tsar Alexander II enrolled the old soldier in the Life Guards Dragoon Regiment, where Kochetkov served for six years, and after that he entered the company of the Palace Grenadiers - the very special unit where all the soldiers served voluntarily ... served in the Winter Palace, and the court service clearly did not appeal to the veteran, who soon went to Central Asia, where he fought under the banners of the glorious General Skobelev, conquering Samarkand and Khiva ... He returned to his company only in 1873 - note, 88 years old old. True, he again did not stay here for long, because three years later he volunteered for the active army across the Danube and, to think it’s just scary, fought on Shipka - these are the steepest mountains, completely unthinkable conditions. But the veteran of the Patriotic War of 1812 was able to do everything ...
After finishing the war, Kochetkov again returned to the company of the Palace Grenadiers, served in it for another 13 years, and then decided to return to his native land. But it did not come true ... As stated in "Vestnik military clergy", "death overtook the poor soldier quite unexpectedly, at a time when he, having received his dismissal, returned to his homeland, hurrying to see his relatives, to live in peace after a long service."
Perhaps no one else had a greater combat path than this grenadier-"contract soldier".
Palace grenadiers
Company of Palaces The grenadier was formed in 1827 and served as an honorary guard at the Winter Palace. At first, it included guards soldiers who had gone through the entire Patriotic War - first from the Neman to Borodino, then from Tarutin to Paris. If the guards, dressed up from the guards regiments, guarded the sovereign, then the main task of the palace grenadiers was to keep order and look after the cunning courtiers - lackeys, stokers and other brethren. If in the twentieth century they were loudly shouting about "civilian control" over the army, then in the nineteenth century they understood that it would be safer and calmer when disciplined and honest military men were watching over civilian dodgers ...

“Volunteers - persons with an educational qualification who entered voluntarily, without drawing lots, into active military service with lower ranks. The voluntary service of volunteers rests not on contract but on law; it is the same military service, but only with a modification of the nature of its implementation. "
(Military encyclopedia. 1912).

At first, old-timers were selected for the company, and later they began to recruit those who had fully served their term, that is, "contract soldiers". By the will of Emperor Nicholas I, he immediately determined very good content: non-commissioned officers, equated in rank to army ensigns, received 700 rubles a year, grenadiers of the first article - 350, grenadiers of the second article - 300. The non-commissioned officer of the palace grenadiers was actually an officer , so he received an officer's salary. Such indecency, that even the "contract" soldier of even the most "elite" unit received a salary higher than the officer's salary, never happened in the Russian army. By the way, in the company that guarded the Winter Palace, not only were "contract soldiers" serving, but all of its officers curry favor from ordinary soldiers, they began service as the same recruits as their subordinates!
It can be understood that Emperor Nicholas I, who established this company, had special confidence in it, which the palace grenadiers fully justified. Suffice it to recall the fire in the Winter Palace on December 17, 1837, when, together with the guards, they carried out portraits of generals from the Military Gallery in 1812 and the most valuable palace property.
After all, they were guided all the time, what is considered the most expensive here, for which a special look is needed ... By the way, here it is worth remembering how Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich appeared in the middle of the burning hall and, seeing that the grenadiers, straining, were dragging a huge Venetian mirror, told them: “Don't guys, leave it! Save yourself! " - “Your Majesty! One of the soldiers objected. “It’s not possible, it costs so much money!” The tsar coolly smashed the mirror with a candelabrum: "Now leave it!"
Two of the grenadiers - non-commissioned officer Alexander Ivanov and Savely Pavlukhin - died then in a burning building ... Real army service is never easy anywhere, it always carries some potential danger. In the old days, they tried to compensate for this "risk factor" at least financially ...
... That's basically and everything that I would like to tell about the history of "contract service" in Russia. As you can see, it was not something far-fetched, artificial, and it brought considerable benefit - provided it was well-thought-out organization - for the army and for Russia.
However, it would be useful to recall that never - even at the very beginning of its history - our regular army was purely "contract". The "contractors", no matter how they were called, were an elite part of the "lower ranks", were a reliable link between officers, command personnel and privates, non-commissioned officers, the "backbone" of the very Russian army that bravely fought under Poltava and Borodino, she defended Sevastopol, crossed the Balkans and, thanks to the mediocrity of the top state leadership, disappeared unconquered on the fields of the First World War.

In the pictures: Unknown artist. Palace Grenadier.
V. SHIRKOV. Extra-urgent private of the Yamburg Uhlan regiment. 1845.

How was the conscription to the army of imperial Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Who was subject to him. Who had benefits for conscription, monetary reward for military personnel. Collection of statistics.


"Of all the subjects of the Russian Empire who reached draft age (20 years old), about 1/3 - 450,000 of 1,300,000 people were called up for active military service by lot. The rest were enlisted in the militia, where they were trained at a short training camp.

The call once a year - from September 15 or October 1 to November 1 or 15 - depending on the timing of the harvest.

Service life in the ground forces: 3 years in the infantry and artillery (except for cavalry); 4 years in other combat arms.

Then came the enrollment in the reserve, which was called up only in case of war. The storage life is 13-15 years.

In the Navy he has 5 years of fixed-term service and 5 years in reserve.

Not subject to conscription:

Inhabitants of remote places: Kamchatka, Sakhalin, some areas of the Yakutsk region, the Yenisei province, Tomsk, Tobolsk provinces, as well as Finland. Foreigners of Siberia (except Koreans and Bukhtarma residents), Astrakhan, Arkhangelsk provinces, Stepnoy Krai, Transcaspian region and the population of Turkestan. They introduce a monetary tax instead of military service: some foreigners of the Caucasian Territory and the Stavropol province (Kurds, Abkhazians, Kalmyks, Nogais, etc.); Finland deducts 12 million marks from the treasury annually. Persons of Jewish nationality are not allowed into the fleet.

Marital status benefits:

Not subject to appeal:

1. The only son in the family.

2. The only son capable of work with an incapacitated father or widow mother.

3. The only brother with full orphans under 16 years old.

4. The only grandson with disabled grandmother and grandfather without adult sons.

5. Illegitimate son with his mother (in his care).

6. Lonely widower with children.

To be called up in the event of a shortage of qualified recruits:

1. The only son, capable of work, with an elderly father (50 years old).

2. Following his brother, killed or missing in service.

3. Following his brother, who is still in the army.

Deferrals and benefits for education:

Receive a respite from the call:

up to 30 years old state scholarship holders preparing to take up scientists and academic positions, after which they are completely released;

up to 28 years of age, students of higher educational institutions with a 5-year course;

up to 27 years of age in higher education with a 4-year course;

up to 24 years old students of secondary educational institutions;

students of all schools at the request and agreement of the ministers;

for 5 years - candidates for evangelical Lutheran preachers.

(In wartime, persons who have the above benefits are taken into service until the end of the course according to the Highest Assent).

Reduction of valid service life:

persons with higher, secondary (1st grade) and lower (II grade) education serve for 3 years in the army;

serve for 2 years persons who have passed the exam for a reserve warrant officer;

doctors and pharmacists serve in the ranks for 4 months, and then they serve on specialty for 1 year 8 months

in the navy, persons with education of the 11th category (lower educational institutions) serve for 2 years and are in the reserve for 7 years.

Profession benefits

Exempt from military service:


  • The clergy are Christian, Muslim (muezzins are at least 22 years old).

  • Scientists (academicians, adjuncts, professors, prospectors with assistants, lecturers of oriental languages, associate professors and assistant professors).

  • Artists of the Academy of Arts sent abroad for improvement.

  • Some scientific and educational officials.

Privileges:


  • Teachers and officials in the scientific and educational part serve for 2 years, and for a temporary 5-year position from December 1, 1912 - 1 year.

  • Paramedics who graduated from special naval and military schools serve 1.5 years.

  • Graduates of the schools of soldiers' children of the guard troops serve for 5 years, starting from 18-20 years.

  • Technicians and pyrotechnics of the artillery department serve after graduation for 4 years.

  • Freelance seafarers are given a grace period until the end of the contract (no more than a year).

  • From the age of 17 voluntarily, persons with higher and secondary education are accepted into the service by volunteers. Service life - 2 years.

Those who passed the exam for the rank of reserve officer serve for 1.5 years.

Freelancers in the Navy - only with higher education - service life of 2 years.

Persons who do not have the above education can voluntarily enter the service without a lot, the so-called. hunters. They serve on a general basis.

Conscription of the Cossacks

(The Don army is taken as a model, other Cossack troops are serving in accordance with their traditions).

All men are required to serve without redemption or replacement on their horses with their equipment.

All the army gives servicemen and militias. Servicemen are divided into 3 categories: 1 preparatory (20-21 years old) passes military training. II combatant (21-33 years old) is directly serving. III reserve (33-38 years old) deploys troops for the war and replenishes losses. During the war, all serve without regard to ranks.

The militia - all capable of service, but not included in the service, form special units.

Cossacks have benefits: by marital status (1 worker in a family, 2 or more family members are already serving); for property (fire victims, impoverished not for their own reason); by education (depending on education, they serve from 1 to 3 years in the ranks).

2. The composition of the land army

All ground forces are divided into regular, ka zach, militia and militia. - The militia is formed from volunteers (mostly foreigners) as needed in peacetime and wartime.

By kind, the troops consist of:


  • infantry

  • cavalry

  • artillery

  • technical troops (engineering, railway, aeronautical);

  • in addition - auxiliary units (border guards, transport, disciplinary units, etc.).

    • The infantry is subdivided into guards, grenadier and army. The division consists of 2 brigades, in a brigade there are 2 regiments. An infantry regiment consists of 4 battalions (some of them 2). The battalion consists of 4 companies.

    In addition, the regiments have machine-gun teams, communications teams, horse orderlies and scouts.

    The total strength of the peacetime regiment is about 1900 people.

    Guards regular regiments - 10

    In addition, there were 3 guards Cossack regiments.


    • b) cavalry is subdivided into guards and army.


      • 4 - cuirassier

      • 1 - dragoon

      • 1 - horse grenadier

      • 2 - uhlan

      • 2 - hussars



  • The Army Cavalry Division consists of; from 1 dragoon, 1 lancer, 1 hussar, 1 cossack regiment.

    Guards cuirassier regiments consist of 4 squadrons, the rest of the army and guards regiments - of 6 squadrons, each of which has 4 platoons. The composition of the cavalry regiment: 1000 lower ranks with 900 horses, not counting the officers. In addition to the Cossack regiments that are part of the regular divisions, special Cossack divisions and brigades are also formed.


    3. Fleet composition

    All ships are divided into 15 classes:

    1. Battleships.

    2. Armored cruisers.

    3. Cruisers.

    4. Destroyers.

    5. Torpedo boats.

    6. Minoski.

    7. Miners.

    8. Submarines.

    9. Gunboats.

    10. River gunboats.

    11. Transports.

    12. Messenger ships.

    14. Training ships.

    15. Port ships.


Source: Russian calendar of Suvorin for 1914. SPb., 1914.S. 331.

The composition of the Russian army in April 1912 by type of troops and services of the department (by state / by lists)

Source: Military Statistical Yearbook of the Army for 1912, St. Petersburg, 1914, pp. 26, 27, 54, 55.

The composition of army officers by education, marital status, class, age, as of April 1912

Source: Military Statistical Yearbook of the Army for 1912. SPb., 1914. S. 228-230.

The composition of the lower ranks of the army by education, marital status, class, nationality and occupation before entering military service

Source: Military Statistical Yearbook for 1912. SPb., 1914. S. 372-375.

Monetary allowance for officers and ranks of the military clergy (rubles per year)

(1) - Reinforced salaries were assigned in remote districts, in academies, officer schools, in the aeronautical troops.

(2) - No deductions were made from the additional money.

(3) - Additional money was released to headquarters officers in such a way that the total amount of salary, canteen and additional money did not exceed 2520 rubles for colonels, 2400 rubles for lieutenant colonels. in year.

(4) - In the guards, captains, staff captains, lieutenants received salaries 1 step higher.

(5) - The military clergy received a salary increase of 1/4 of the salary for 10 and 20 years of service.

Officers were issued when transferring to a new duty station and during business trips, the so-called. running money for hiring horses.

When you are in various types of business trips outside the limit of the part, daily and portion money is issued.

Canteen money, in contrast to salary and additional money, was assigned to officers not by rank, but depending on the position:


  • corps commanders - 5700 rubles

  • chiefs of infantry and cavalry divisions - 4200 rubles.

  • chiefs of individual brigades - 3300 rubles.

  • commanders of non-separate brigades and regiments - 2,700 rubles

  • commanders of individual battalions and artillery divisions - 1,056 rubles

  • commanders of field gendarme squadrons - 1020 rubles.

  • battery commanders - 900 rubles.

  • commanders of non-separate battalions, chiefs of the economic unit in the troops, assistants of cavalry regiments - 660 rubles.

  • junior headquarters officers of the artillery brigade directorate, company commanders of fortress and siege artillery - 600 rubles.

  • commanders of individual sapper companies and commanders of individual hundreds - 480 rubles.

  • company, squadron and centenary commanders, heads of training teams - 360 rubles.

  • senior officers (one at a time) in batteries - 300 rubles.

  • senior officers (except one) in artillery batteries in companies, chiefs of machine-gun teams - 180 rubles.

  • official officers in the army - 96 rubles.

Deductions were made from salary and table money:


  • 1% for hospital


  • 1.5% on medicines (regimental pharmacy)


  • 1% from canteens


  • 1% of salary

into pension capital


  • 6% - to the emeritus cashier (for additions and for pension)


  • 1% of canteen money into disabled capital.

When awarding orders, an amount is paid in the amount of:


  • St. Stanislaus 3 tbsp. - 15 rubles, 2 tbsp. - 30 rubles; 1 tbsp. - 120.

  • St. Anna 3 tbsp. - 20 rubles; 2 tbsp. - 35 rubles; 1 tbsp. - 150 rubles.

  • St. Vladimir 4 Art. - 40 rubles; 3 tbsp. - 45 rubles; 2 tbsp. - 225 rubles; 1 tbsp. - 450 rubles.

  • White eagle - 300 rubles

  • St. Alexander Nevsky - 400 rubles.

  • St. Andrew the First-Called - 500 rubles.

No deductions are made for other orders.

The money entered the order capital of each order and was used to help the knights of this order.

The officers were given apartment money, money for the maintenance of stables, as well as money for heating and lighting apartments, depending on the location of the military unit.

The settlements of European Russia and Siberia (1) are divided into 9 categories, depending on the cost of housing and fuel. The difference in payment for apartments and fuel prices between settlements of the 1st category (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, etc.) and 9th category (small settlements) was 200% (4 times).

Soldiers taken prisoner and who were not in the service of the enemy, upon their return from captivity, receive a salary for all the time spent in captivity, except for table money. The family of a prisoner in captivity has the right to receive half of his salary, and is also provided with apartment money, and, if anyone was entitled, a servant hiring allowance.

Officers serving in remote areas are entitled to a salary increase depending on the length of service in these areas for every 5 years 20-25% (depending on the place), and for every 10 years a lump sum.

Each Cossack has been preparing for military service since childhood. However, not everyone had to serve. The fact is that the number of each Cossack army was strictly regulated and only a limited number of recruits were drafted into the army, and their number was in direct proportion to the population of the entire village. Young people were called up either by lot or voluntarily (“hunters”). The order of conscription was determined by the same for the entire Cossack society and was strictly observed by everyone.

In each stanitsa registers were kept, in which the stanitsa chieftains entered all, without exception, males - both the sons of privates and the general's offspring. In accordance with the registers of births, the stanitsa board made for the drawing of lots the names of all "youngsters" from the age of 19, but not older than 25. The lists were compiled in the order and sequence corresponding to the entries in the registers of birth. They also included persons who arrived for permanent residence from other regions. Simultaneously with the compilation of the lists of conscripts, the village chieftains proposed for discussion the gathering and lists of all persons who declared themselves incapable of serving military service, and the gathering after the examination announced a "sentence." Persons who studied and graduated from secondary and higher educational institutions, rural teachers and others were exempted from the draft.

On the appointed day, the village chieftains convened the entire society and the "youngsters" who reached their 19th birthday on January 1 of the following year. The atamans, sent to the stanitsa, read out to the society a prescription for military service and a schedule indicating the number of young men called up. After that, the list of all "youngsters" was read out, and the missing and new surnames were entered into it immediately.

For the drawing of lots, as many clean, absolutely identical tickets were made in advance as the number of young people included in the list. Each ticket had its own serial number, and the person sent to the village for the drawing of lots, together with three electives, compared the number of tickets with the size of the conscript contingent. On the highest order numbers of tickets, the inscription "to serve" was immediately publicly made. As many tickets were marked as the number of recruits to be called up for service. If someone expressed a desire to go to the service voluntarily - as a "hunter", then he did not draw lots, and the number of tickets, including those signed, decreased.

"Signed" and "blank" tickets rolled up in a monotonous manner, mixed up and poured out into a glass bin, displayed for all to see. After that, no one, except for the one drawing lots, had the right to touch the urn. Each young man, according to the list, approached the urn, took out one ticket with his bare elbow to the elbow, and immediately showed it to the official present. The ticket number was announced publicly, and if it bore the inscription "to serve", it was noted on the list.

The lot numbers were drawn only once, and the re-drawing was not allowed under any pretext. Instead of the absent young men, the ticket was taken out in the same manner by his father, grandfather, mother or an authorized representative. After the drawing of lots in all the villages, the atamans of the departments drew up lists of names of young men registered as Cossacks, and the order ataman, by order of the army, enlisted them in the service Cossacks for a period of 15 years. After 15 years of field service, the Cossacks were transferred to the category of internal employees for 7 years, and then resigned.

After taking the oath, the young Cossacks were in the preparatory category for three years. The first year they lived at home, prepared for field service and equipped themselves at their own expense. On the second - they were already trained in military service in the villages, and on the third - in the camp. During these three years the Cossack had to "completely prepare and equip himself for the service."

For the next 12 years, the Cossack was listed in the combat category. For the first 4 years, he served on active duty in the so-called units of the 1st stage. For the next 4 years, he was in the units of the 2nd stage ("on privilege"), lived in the village, but had to have riding horses and annually go to camp gatherings. For the last 4 years, the Cossacks were listed in the units of the 3rd stage, they might not have riding horses and were involved in camp training only once.

After 15 years of service in the combat (field) category, the Cossacks were listed in the category of internal employees, whose service consisted of guards and servants at military institutions. At the same time, the Cossacks dressed up for service one by one, each time for a period of no more than one year. They were allowed to hire instead of themselves and others, with the only condition that those hired were appropriate for the service ahead of them. Internal Cossacks, "dressed up for active service", received salaries, provisions and weld money on a par with the combatant Cossacks.

It should be noted that the entire Cossack estate was provided with significant privileges in tsarist Russia: a special order of service, exemption from the poll tax, from recruitment, from the state zemstvo tax, the right to duty-free trade within military territories, special rights to use state lands and lands, and dr.

But special rights were imposed on the Cossacks and special duties. Not a single Cossack was exempt from military service. Young men who drew the lot "not to serve" were exempted from military service duties only formally, but in reality they remained in the army under the name of "non-serving Cossacks". They are for all the time that they should have been in the field and internal service, i.e. for 22 years, they made certain payments to the military treasury, the sizes of which were established by the king, and performed all military, zemstvo duties on an equal basis with the internal Cossacks. All Cossacks entering the service received "help" from the Cossacks who remained at home in the field category, amounting to 350-400 rubles. Non-serving Cossacks were exempted from payments only when they received the right to be dismissed from the field and internal service. In exceptional cases, "if the benefit of the state" demanded, the entire Cossack population, both civil servants and non-servants, could be called up for service.

Benefits, privileges ... Yes, but what a heroic dedication at the same time. There was not a single report from the battlefield in which the prowess, bravery, and dedication of the Cossacks were not noted. The irreplaceable vanguard of Russia, in modern terms, the tsarist special forces, was sent to the most responsible and dangerous affairs, to risky expeditions, "hot spots". In peacetime (for all others), the Cossacks covered the borders of the Fatherland with a living wall. In the war, they conducted a search, reconnaissance in force, carried out raids behind enemy lines, sabotage ...

So, during the Great Caucasian War of the 19th century, Cossack special forces effectively operated on the communications of the mountaineers - scouts (from the word layer, that is, lying in a layer) - foot teams and units of the Black Sea, and then Kuban Cossack troops. The main task of these units was to protect the stanitsa from a sudden attack by the mountaineers. To this end, they were instructed to continuously monitor the cordon line from secret places, secrets, to lie in a kind of living trap on the paths of possible penetration of the enemy into the depths of the Cossack lands.

The tactics of the actions of the plastuns evolved over the centuries. On the march, they were in an advanced reconnaissance patrol, at a halt - in an ambush in combat outposts. In a field fortification - in constant search through the surrounding forests and gorges. At the same time, the scouts at night in groups of 3 to 10 people penetrated deep into the enemy's location, watched him, eavesdropped on conversations.

In the interests of secrecy in conducting reconnaissance, the scouts were even allowed to wear a dyed beard. Many of them knew local dialects, customs and customs. In some auls, the scouts had friends - kunaks, who informed them of the enemy's plans. However, the information received from even the most bosom friends, the Kunaks, was always subject to careful verification.

During a combat clash during a reconnaissance raid, the scouts were almost never given into the hands of the enemy. It was considered a rule that the plastuner would rather lose life than freedom. Skillfully choosing a position and pre-planning the escape route, the scouts fired back in case of pursuit or silently hid on the ground. In both cases, the enemy was afraid to immediately openly attack a small detachment of scouts, knowing the accuracy of the Plastun shot and the danger of an ambush. Having thus knocked down the "courage" of the pursuers, the scouts retreated. The wounded were not abandoned in distress, the dead were buried on the spot or, if possible, carried away with them.

In the early printed editions of pre-revolutionary Russia, many stories have been preserved about the actions of these units. The heroic deeds of the Cossacks entered the oral folklore. A distinctive feature of the Cossack estate was that persons who entered this class once remained in it forever, losing contact with the class to which they previously belonged. Leaving the military estate was unconditionally forbidden, and the Cossacks were forbidden even "to marry outsiders." The transition of the Cossacks to service in foreign departments or in regular troops was also not allowed.

At the same time, officers of regular troops were sometimes transferred to Cossack regiments. At the same time, their ranks were renamed as follows: majors - to military foremen; captains and captains - to centurions; second lieutenants, warrant officers and cornets - in cornet. The lower ranks served in the posts of sergeant-major, sergeants, buglers, clerks, clerks, paramedics and transport Cossacks. The rights and obligations of privates, non-commissioned officers and officers were strictly regulated and strictly observed.

So, the disciplinary charter was approved by the tsar and announced by order of the military department. For example, the following penalties were imposed on privates and corporals: “1. The prohibition to be absent from the barracks or from the yard for a time more or less long. 2. Assignment to work that happens in the company, no more than eight orders. H. Appointment out of line for service, for a period not exceeding eight days. 4. Simple arrest, for a period not exceeding a month. 5. Strict arrest, for a period not exceeding twenty days. 6. Increased arrest, for a period not exceeding eight days. 7. Deprivation of corporal rank and displacement to lower degrees and lower salaries. 8. Failure to be awarded with stripes. "

In addition, by a court decision, lower ranks could be punished with rods of up to 50 blows.

High exactingness to the personnel, combined with the mutual responsibility of the Cossack society and centuries-old historical traditions, made it possible to turn the Cossack troops into the most combat-ready and at the same time loyal part of the Russian army. They served in the royal convoys, guarded the grand ducal palaces, pacified the rebellious, and dispersed the demonstrators.

They had to do a lot of things, but they bore the title of defender of the Russian land with dignity and honor, strictly fulfilling the oath taken once ...

In the Russian state, since the 30s of the 17th century. Attempts were made to create a better military system. The archers and the local cavalry were no longer reliable means of strengthening the borders.

The regular Russian army arose under Emperor Peter I (1682-1725). His Decree "On the admission to the service of soldiers from all sorts of free people" (1699) laid the foundation for the recruitment of the new army. In the Decree of February 20, 1705, the term "recruit" was first mentioned, the term of which was established by Peter I - "as long as strength and health allow." The recruiting system firmly consolidated the class principle of organizing the army: the soldiers were recruited from peasants and other taxable strata of the population, and the officers were from the nobility. Each rural or bourgeois community undertook to provide the army with a man aged 20 to 35 from a certain number (usually 20) households.

In 1732, the favorite of the Empress Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740) - B.Kh. Munnich (President of the Military Collegium) approved the recruitment of recruits between the ages of 15 and 30 by lot. Lifetime service was replaced by 10 years, moreover, military peasants could be promoted to officers, i.e. go out to the nobles. In addition, in 1736, an order was issued allowing the only sons in the family not to serve in the army, but to one of the brothers to avoid recruitment.

In 1762, Emperor Peter III (1761-1762) set the term of service in the army at 25 years.

In 1808-1815. under Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825), military settlements were organized - special volosts inhabited by state peasants, who were transferred to the category of military settlers. Soldiers' regiments settled here, their families were registered with the soldiers, the soldiers were married (often not at their choice). The military settlers served for life in military service and carried out agricultural work to provide for themselves. All boys from the age of 7 became cantonists, dressed in uniforms and carried out both soldier and peasant service for life. The state archive of the Chuvash Republic contains books on the registration of cantonists. In the 50s of the 19th century. settlers, cantonists, dismissed from the military department, were assigned to rural societies of state and appanage peasants, as evidenced by revision tales and other documents.

Since 1834, under Emperor Nicholas I (1825-1855), the soldier was dismissed on indefinite leave ("reserve") after 20 years of service. From 1839 to 1859, the service life was reduced from 19 to 12 years, the maximum age of a recruit - from 35 to 30.

From the formular (draft) list of the Cheboksary district presence for 1854:

620. Mikhailo Vasiliev (Note: this recruit entered the hunt for his brother Kozma Vasiliev), age - 20 years, height - 2 arshins 3 vershoks, signs: hair on the head and eyebrows are dark blond, blue eyes, nose and mouth ordinary, chin - round, in general the face is speckled. Special signs: a spot on the right side of the back from the disease. From what class he was accepted, according to what set: Kazan province, Cheboksary district, Sundyr volost, village Bolshaya Akkozina, from state peasants, 11 private set, Orthodox, single. He doesn't know how to read, write, or any skill.

719. Vasily Fedorov, age 21/2 years, height - 2 yards 5 vershoks, signs: hair on the head and eyebrows - black, brown eyes, nose - wide-pointed, mouth - ordinary, chin - round, generally clean face. Special features: a birthmark on the lower back. From what class he was accepted, according to what set: Kazan province, Cheboksary district, Lipovskoy volost, village Bagildina, from state peasants, 11 private set, Orthodox, married to Elena Vasilyeva, no children. He doesn't know how to read, write, or any skill.

In the family recruitment list of the Cheboksary district of the Alymkasinsky volost of the Alymkasinsky rural society for 1859 there is information about the admission of peasants to recruits since 1828, there is no data on the return of recruits.

The next changes in the terms of service are associated with the head of the Ministry of Defense D.A. Milyutin (1861-1881), who carried out a reform in 1873. As a result, from January 1, 1874, the recruitment system was replaced by universal military service. The entire male population that reached the age of 20, without distinction of class, served directly in the ranks for 6 years and was in the reserve for 9 years (for the fleet - 7 years of active service and 3 years in the reserve). Those who served their terms of active service and in reserve were enlisted in the militia, in which they stayed for up to 40 years. They were exempted from active service: the only son, the only breadwinner in the family with young brothers and sisters, conscripts whose older brother is serving or has served a period of active service. The rest of those fit for service, who had no privileges, drew lots. All fit for service, incl. and beneficiaries were enlisted in the reserve, and after 15 years - in the militia. Delays were given for 2 years in terms of property status. The terms of active military service were reduced depending on the educational qualification: up to 4 years for those who graduated from elementary school, up to 3 years for a city school, and up to one and a half years for those who had a higher education. If the educated person entered active service voluntarily ("volunteer"), the terms of service were cut in half. In the service, the soldiers were taught to read and write. The clergy were exempted from military service.

From the draft list with. Yandashevo, Alymkasinskaya volost, Cheboksary district for 1881:

... v. Chodinoy

No. 2. Nikita Yakimov, b. May 24, 1860, marital status: sister Ekaterina, 12 years old, wife Oksinya Yakovleva, 20 years old.

The decision of the Presence on compulsory military service: “Has first-class benefits as the only worker in the family. Enroll in the militia ";

village Oldeevo - Izeevo

No. 1. Ivan Petrov, b. January 4, 1860, marital status: mother is a widow, 55 years old, sisters: Varvara, 23 years old, Praskovya, 12 years old, wife Ogafya Isaeva, 25 years old.

The decision of the Presence on compulsory military service: “The privilege of the first category was given as the only worker in the family with his mother - a widow. Enlisted in the militia. "

From the report of the assistant foreman of the Alymkassin volost government to the Cheboksary district police officer dated August 17, 1881: “... in the village. Yurakovo has a soldier now transferred to the reserve Porfiry Fyodorov - musician of the 66th Infantry Regiment's choir, who entered the military service on December 16, 1876, due to weakness he was enrolled in the Arzamas reserve battalion, in which he took part in the Turkish war ... ".

Under the Minister of War P.S. Vannovsky (1882-1898), according to the new military regulations of 1888, there were new reductions in the service life: 4 years in the foot troops, 5 years in the cavalry and engineering troops. The service life in the reserve has increased from 9 to 18 years. Those fit for service were listed in the militia until the age of 43, the draft age for active service increased from 20 to 21, the terms of service for persons who graduated from secondary and higher educational institutions, as well as for volunteers, increased by 2-4 times.

From the draft list of the Ishley-Sharbashevsky society of the Syundyr volost of the Kozmodemyansky district for 1892:

2. Markov Lavrenty Markovich, b. August 4, 1871 Marital status: brother Nikolai, 11 years old, sister Darius, 16 years old.

The decision of the Presence on military conscription: “Has the right to the privilege of the first category under Art. 45. as the only capable brother with a brother and sister - full orphans ... Enroll a warrior of the 2nd category in the militia. "

3. Nikolaev Philip Nikolaevich, b. November 2, 1871 Marital status: father Nikolai Fedorov, 45 years old, mother Agrafen Stepanova, 40 years old, brothers: Peter, 17 years old, Ivan, 13 years old, Kuzma, 10 ½ years old, Nikifor, 6 years old.

The decision of the Presence: “He is entitled to the benefit of the second category under Art. 45. as the only son capable of work with a capable father and brothers under 18 years of age. Enroll a warrior of the 1st category in the militia. "

From the draft list of the Syundyr volost for 1895:

40. Elakov Roman Evdokimovich, b. November 12, 1873 Marital status: father Evdokim Ivanov, 50 years old, mother Nastasya Petrova, 45 years old, brothers: Grigory, 23 years old, entered the draft in 1892 and is in the service, Philip, 18 years old, sisters: Nadezhda, 15 years old, Tatiana, 12 years old; Orthodox, single, belongs to the fourth category by education (certificate of the Kozmodemyansk district school council dated August 17, 1888), number of an extended lot number 230, height 1.7 1 , is eligible for third grade benefit as the next oldest brother in active service. Solution: enroll in the militia, warrior of the 1st category.

The last change in the period of service in the tsarist army took place in 1906: they began to serve in the infantry for 3 years, in the rest of the troops - 4 years.

IN AND. Elakhova,

department head

preservation

and document accounting

"Hazing" and bullying by officers of soldiers in the tsarist army became widespread in many respects due to the officially introduced and long operating system of corporal punishment.
The elders oppressed the younger ones both in the army and in military schools.

The tyrant officers

The cruel treatment of subordinates by the tsarist officers by historians who have studied this topic is considered the main reason for hazing in the army until the 19th century. As a result of such bullying, the soldiers deserted en masse from the units. The situation began to change for the better only at the end of the century, when all-class military service was introduced in Russia. The number of escapes decreased, as the period of military service also decreased (in the tsarist army, soldiers previously served 25 years).

From the orders that have survived to this day, you can find out how old soldiers and officers treated recruits - they, in addition to direct fist "suggestion", were flogged with whips, gauntlets, part of the salary was taken ... Arakcheev, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, left the grenadiers without a mustache, tearing them personally. Such outstanding commanders of the tsarist army as Rumyantsev and Suvorov also spoke out in favor of using gauntlets for soldiers.

Only after the end of the Crimean War, the institution of corporal punishment in the Russian army was temporarily abolished, and the number of cases of beatings by officers of soldiers gradually began to decrease. The officers' positions in the army began to be occupied by volunteers (yesterday's students), and this significantly changed the relationship between the superiors and subordinates.

"Tsuki" in military schools

Non-regulation relationships were widespread in the tsarist military schools, in particular, they were described by A.I. Kuprin, himself a former officer. "Hazing" was expressed in the attempts of senior students to assert themselves over junior cadets, this phenomenon was called "tsuk". It is believed that this vice, which represented the aimless mockery of the elders over the younger, was adopted by the Russian cadets from students at German and French universities.

At the end of the 18th century, Catherine II signed a decree according to which the cadet corps had to be isolated from society so that the corrupting temptations of secular life would not penetrate from the outside to future officers: this measure was forced, since among the cadets there were more frequent cases of theft, gambling, drunkenness and debauchery ... The empress abolished corporal punishment in the army, but Alexander I introduced them again in 1805. As a result, among the pupils of the cadet corps, so-called "temper" began to appear - cadets who boasted to their comrades of their ability to endure more than a hundred lashes for their tricks. Such prowess, as the "temper" believed, gave them the right to spread rot on those who were younger and weaker.

"Hazing" in the tsarist military educational institutions arose, among other things, because their pupils, due to their age, had not yet had time to properly socialize, build a normal system of social relations and fit into it, due to their age. They formed a model of a separate social society in the closed world of a military school. By the end of the nineteenth century, "Tsukanye" with its hierarchical and behavioral rules had spread to almost all educational institutions of pre-revolutionary Russia.

According to the recollections of officers, the hazing relationship between senior students and junior students of the cadet and cadet corps, expressed in bullying and mockery, became especially frequent before the start of the First World War. The cadets themselves explained such manifestations as a way to "filter" future officers - supposedly "tsuk" helped to weed out morally and physically weak candidates for military commanders. Nevertheless, contemporaries wrote in the press of that time that "thanks to" the "tsukanu" in the barracks of military schools, an oppressive atmosphere reigns, more typical more likely for a prison cell or the premises of a prison department.

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